Consumers and businesses increasingly rely on computers to perform both routine and specialized tasks and to store data. Consequently, malicious programmers seem to continuously increase their efforts to gain illegitimate control and access to others' computers. Computer programmers with malicious motivations have created and continue to create viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and other programs meant to compromise computer systems and data belonging to other people. These malicious programs are often referred to as malware.
Security software companies are combating the growing tide of malware by creating and deploying malware signatures to their customers on a regular basis. These malware signatures may identify key strings and/or patterns that indicate the presence of malicious code.
Unfortunately, some malware authors may implement techniques that obfuscate malicious code, thereby potentially rendering traditional scan-based techniques that rely on malware signatures ineffective. For example, some malware authors may encrypt malicious code, thereby potentially concealing the key strings and/or patterns that are characteristic of the malicious code. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for detecting malicious files.